Water polo betting scandal: report flags profits, cluster bets

Updated 8.55am

Several local water polo players face the prospect of lengthy bans from the game after a report by Malta's gaming regulator found they placed bets on matches. 

Players identified in the Malta Gaming Authority report, which Times of Malta has seen, bet on a range of matches, including ones involving the Malta national team. 

According to local water polo rules, any player, official or club member caught betting on any games organised under the aegis of the Aquatic Sports Association of Malta, including national team games, faces a suspension of one to three years. 

The report forms the basis of investigations into a betting scandal that is now being led by water polo's international body, World Aquatics. 

It identifies 15 people linked to local water polo, including players, as "persons of interest" and flags bets they placed across various years.  

In many cases, bets were small in size, winnings were minimal, or the players lost their bets. In others, bets were cashed out before the events they concerned began.

However, MGA investigators flagged various bets as concerning - either due to the fact that separate players placed similar bets at the same time, or because bets were placed through incongruous IP addresses.  

One athlete, who plays with Marsascala ASC, placed several handicap bets backing Malta in a match against Montenegro at the 2024 European Water Polo Championship.

Overall, he staked €344 and received €613.38 in returns, resulting in a profit of €269.38. Another athlete, who seems to form part of the San Ġiljan ASC technical staff, staked €320 on the match and returned €484, for a profit of €164. His most aggressive winning bet was a €250 stake on Montenegro to score first.

A player for Exiles SC gained €62.50 from a wager on the same match, also betting that Montenegro would score first.

These two bets on Montenegro scoring first were placed three hours apart. The MGA pointed out that the “first team to score” market is highly unpredictable due to the variability of opening-play outcomes.

“The fact that two active participants in the water polo scene selected the same high-risk outcome with high stakes raised “heightened integrity concerns”.

In another case, a San Ġiljan ASC player who was not in the national team squad, placed wagers on several matches at those 2024 championships, including Malta’s match against Serbia, one of the European powerhouses in the sport.

The athlete selected Serbia at a -15.5 handicap, predicting a loss for Malta by more than 15 goals. The Malta squad went on to lose that match 21-4.

The player was not part of the senior squad for the championships but was active in the youth team. Some members of the youth team had been selected to the championship squad, and this raised concerns about exposure to sensitive information not available to the betting public.

Cluster betting

MGA investigators also discovered coordinated “cluster” betting during the Montenegro match. Three men, one of whom is a water polo athlete, showed “near-identical behaviour” by betting on the same core handicap markets and in the same betting segments.

During a 95-second window, all three men placed in-play wagers in the same markets. Minutes later, two of them placed bets only 38 seconds apart, both targeting the same market and selecting an identical outcome.

There were also multiple cash-out pairings among the three men.

At 6.16pm that day, all three executed cash-outs within 12 seconds. Another synchronised cash-out happened at 6.53pm, when two of them cashed out within eight seconds of each other in the same market.

Some players also made a profit from betting on the national team’s match with France on January 12. The same player who gained €62.50 from a wager on the Montenegro match made an additional €42.85 from 12 bets on the France match.

Another player staked €74.83 on the match and returned €104.82, earning him a profit of almost €30.

Other national team players were found to have placed bets on matches in various leagues and championships, but none were placed on games they played.

One athlete currently signed with Sliema ASC made a €29.64 profit on the 2022 Champions League and a €40.34 profit on the 2022 European Championships. However, he recorded a €12 loss on his Olympic water polo wagers.

Another athlete who plays for San Ġiljan ASC recorded a minimal profit of €1.20 overall. He lost a €10 bet and won €11.20 on a separate €4 treble.

Malta IP address

The same San Ġiljan ASC athlete placed wagers on the 2024 European Championships.

He formed part of the Malta squad for the tournament and even travelled with the national team for the event, but he did not place bets on any matches concerning Malta.

However, the bets were placed from an IP address that the MGA traced back to Malta. The regulator found this strange because he was on national duty in Dubrovnik and Zagreb at the time.

The MGA said this could indicate either VPN usage to avoid detection or possible account sharing.

Another player, who was also a member of the national squad for the tournament, was similarly caught placing bets on matches at the same tournament. Like the other athlete, the IP address linked to the bet was traced back to Malta, despite travelling on national duty.

A third athlete, who also plays on the national team, placed wagers on the 2022 European Water Polo Championships in Croatia. The IP address was traced back to Croatia, specifically to an address that is a nine-minute drive from where the championships took place.

Hearing

Sources told Times of Malta that all the national team players identified in the report have already been suspended from national team duty and have been left out of the squad for international competitions.

Meanwhile, a hearing is scheduled to take place this month in front of the World Aquatics.

The World Aquatics Integrity Code states that betting on any aquatics event by an athlete in the sport would amount to an integrity code violation and could result in suspension.

In reaction to the report, the Aquatic Sports Association (ASA) told Times of Malta it is in close contact with the World Aquatics and European Aquatics organisations over the matter.

It said it is developing programmes to promote regular education and awareness-raising on sports betting. “Integrity in sport is vital and the ASA is investing in this area to safeguard the game and support the long-term good of the water polo community,” the association said.